With the advent of the wheel and its countless uses for transporting people and cargo, continuing attention has been given to cushioning the jolting and jarring that results when rough or uneven terrain is encountered. The object of this effort has been to enhance the comfort of the rider and to protect cargo against damage. Despite the preponderance of attention devoted to the riding comfort of the modern automobile, with its pneumatic tires, coil spring suspension, and easy-chair cushions, early and continuing attention has been directed to the comfort of the rider of the less sophisticated vehicles, where the terrain to be traversed may be country trails or unimproved farm land.
Even before the turn of the century, as evidenced by U.S. Pat. Nos. 189,160 to Wells, 522,142 to Barrett, 562,446 to Whitley, 609,076 to Bonet and 612,215 to Ross, cushioning means involving various configurations of coil springs in the seats of farm machinery and bicycles were being devised, to the end that the riding comfort thereof might be enhanced; and, as in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 2,131,963 to Mendell, early attention was also directed to reducing the forward and sidewise sway or shift that normally characterizes the spring-suspended seat.
It is to be noted that whereas the riding comfort of a motor driven vehicle such as the motorcycle may be enhanced in various weight-adding ways, such as through the use of elaborate shock-absorbers and thickly cushioned seats, no such advantage is permitted in the case of the bicycle where lightness of weight remains an over-riding consideration. It is for this reason that heretofore expended efforts at improving the riding comfort of the bicycle have been confined to the seat itself, with little thought or attention to light-weight adapter-type devices that might serve the comfort requirements not only of a given rider, but of riders of widely varying weights.